


Raoul Meets Kel

by astraev



Category: Protector of the Small - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Gen, Mentor/Protégé, Mentors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-21
Updated: 2013-09-21
Packaged: 2017-12-27 04:13:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/974187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astraev/pseuds/astraev
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raoul had the ear of the King, and an ear on all the gossip in the castle. That didn't mean he had met all the subjects of castle gossip. Or even come to like and respect them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Lance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SevenCorvus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SevenCorvus/gifts).



It was the sort of thing that Raoul was aware of – even highly informed about – but liked to pretend was beneath his notice.

A young lady was training to be a knight. Keladry of Mindelan, if he recalled correctly.

He was a Progressive, as such things were labeled in Tortall, which was inescapable having grown up with the King and his Champion. That there was another young lady – another noble – ready to attempt to become a fighter for her King was exceptional and Raoul was torn between being highly pleased, and wanting to treat the situation as completely ordinary.

So he focused, instead, on his duties and began recruiting in earnest for the Third Company. The poor girl would have plenty of people staring at her, she didn’t need – and here he mocked himself – the Giantkiller giving her stage fright too.

The summer had been successful. His new recruits, about eight of them, were adjusting well and getting better in the practice yards. He, of course, worked out with them when he could, and sometimes they ended their morning watching the pages. This morning, however, they were on their way out on a call, mounted and ready to ride. Something about a tauros. They ended up slowing as they passed the page’s tilting practice yard.

That was when he saw her for the first time. He didn’t know it at first. An average sized page on an oversided gelding charged at the quintain, struggling to pull up her lance. The page barely got the lance up in time, and certainly didn’t hit the target, and so got thumped hard by the quintain. As the page passed the quintain, and pulled on the reigns to stop, the horse reared.

“He’s going to get thrown,” said one of the new men of the Own.

“Supper at the Jugged Hare that she doesn’t,” said Domitan of Masbolle. Raoul knew his name, because he seemed to be leadership material. He would soon know all of their names, because that’s what he did. But some he picked up faster than others.

“The horse is too big for that page,” Raoul called over the fence. “I’m surprised you let him ride that gelding, Cavall.”

Raoul expected the sharp look from Wyldon. His reply was cold. “The probationer picked that mount herself. She had a choice of horses, just like the others.”

Raoul watched the page, who he now knew was Keladry of Mindelan. He watched as she managed to turn her horse and look at the crowd he was standing, and how she kept her face straight even though she was surely embarrassed beyond belief. “This is the girl?” he said, and he couldn’t help but keep the astonishment out of his voice. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was astonished. Perhaps when he heard that there was a girl trying for her shield he thought that she would be like Alanna – like the Alan he grew up with. Scrappy, tiny, and fierce, with a temper like the sun. Keladry, as she sat astride before her, was none of these things. She looked mature for her years.

“Keladry of Mindelan. She knows she may exchange her mount for another, and has chosen not to do so. Have you something we may assist you with?”

Raoul knew something about the prejudices against women warriors, and he had the idea that perhaps that what would’ve been straight forward for one of the lads – getting a horse that was the right size – was not something that Keladry could manage without significant support. Which she was not necessarily getting from Wyldon, Raoul could see. He also heard the dismissal in Wyldon’s voice, and heeded it. “Not this time,” he said. “We’ve reports of a lone tauros sighted near one of the fishing villages upriver.”

Quasim spoke behind him. “No doubt it is a strayed bull.”

“Stray bull or not, we’ll handle it. You and your lot will get the chance to help us soon enough, Cavall.” Raoul put two fingers to his brow and saluted in a way that he was sure was to get into Wyldon’s craw, ironic and less than respectful. Raoul rode to the front of his column, and signaled for the group to move out. Raoul didn’t like it when he met the unexpected. But he would just have to adjust his expectations.


	2. Spidren Hunt

The spidren nest in the Royal Forrest wasn’t technically something that the Own needed help with, especially with a couple Rider groups with them, but he had promised Wyldon that he would include the pages where he could, and he knew they were in summer camp not far from the afflicted village. So Raoul gave the order, and though they had started in the middle of the night, they would arrive at the camp at dawn, and it would be lunch by the time they were back again, Raoul knew that the future of the Realm needed this experience, and so Raoul went with 30 of his men to fetch the pages.

At lunch, sheltered in the village’s largest barn, Raoul settled himself in a place where everyone could gather around, and waited for everyone to eat. But soon, it was time for the big speeches. He talked about how the rainy weather – horrible for riding in – was helpful for spidren tracking. He told the whole group the strategy, and emphasized the teamwork necessary to keep everyone alive.

Then, after looking at the map, and emphasizing that the search would be on foot, Raoul stepped aside and let Flyndan pair up men and pages. He hoped that he was smart enough to give Keladry – Kel, he found out she liked to be called – a member of the Own who had learned thoroughly that what was between the legs had nothing to do with how well they could fight.

He observed, silently, that she was paired with Qasim, and that Qasim had begun to win her over, and divided the 30 men into three groups, each being headed by himself, Flyndan and Wyldon. He wanted to put Kel into his group, but he didn’t think that would be necessary.

He didn’t want to treat Kel as an unknown variable. A young woman who could stay atop a too-big gelding rearing had nerves enough to handle a spidren hunt. But he did want to observe her. The world of Knights was not as friendly to the female as the other ranks of warriors had begun to be, and as much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to protect her. Not from battle, but from her peers.

The morning had been lost on deadends, and when the groups stopped to regroup, Qasim called “My lord,” and Raoul found him gripping Kel’s shoulder and dragging the girl towards him. Qasim handed him a twig with fresh webbing, so fresh he had to scrape it from his skin with a knife.

“Where did you find this?” Raoul asked.

Qasim gave Raoul a slightly impish look and pointed to Kel. Kel had found the webbing? Was this skill or luck? Sometimes it was hard to tell with the young, but from what he’d heard of Kel, it was probably skill. Kel looked decidedly uncomfortable, but she spoke anyway, which was a sign of good training, and a mind that could handle crisis. “My lord –“

Qasim leaned down to her, and while Raoul didn’t hear him, Kel started again. “Sir, my sparrows brought it to me.”

“Pets?” He had heard of myths where maidens communed with birds, but pages? “We weren’t allowed them in my day.”

He watched, interested, as Kel looked over at Wyldon before continuing to report. “They aren’t pets, exactly. They live in the courtyard outside my room, and…” she went on noting that the palace animals were smarter than they used to be.

“Too bad they can’t lead us to the spidrens,” Raoul said, sighing and thinking wishfully. “Any idea how far they flew with this?” He looked around hoping that there might be little birdy trail signs. He kept Kel in his gaze, however, and watched as she seemed to be battling herself and trying, again, valiantly to hide it. To be in such master of your emotions at that age!

Kel started again. “My lord knight commander…” Raoul laughed inside. So formal, too. He wondered if she could be broken of that. Qaism nudged her, and he did change course. “Sir. I think they could lead us to the spidrens.”

“Are you a wildmage, too?” he asked. He was making a list of all the things that Kel was in his head: Formal, in control of her emotions, brave, hardworking. Wildmage would seem to be a cherry on top of an unfairly large piece of pie. “You can speak with them?”

“No,” she admitted, “but I think they understand more than you’d guess.” Raoul was secretly glad that she wasn’t that kind of perfect.

Another page spoke up, and then another and another. Raoul looked at them carefully. She might not be a wildmage, but she seemed to have won the respect and loyalty of these boys – and that overgrown one who spoke first. A leader? A commander? He kept his own council, and decided to keep the mood light. “This is what I’ve come to,” he said, scratching his head and mourning his status. “Following little birdies.” From there, he gave out orders, and then he did something he was sure that Kel never would have expected – he put her own point. 

She was going to lead the leaders. She looked a little uncomfortable, but she rose to the challenge, following her birds, staying low, and creeping quietly.

It had been what they needed at the time. Things went quickly after that.

Dom, barely there a year but already one of his favorites (not that he would admit that), sat near him at dinner one night, weeks after the spidren hunt. The Own and the pages had parted ways, and the Own had a rare lull between needs, though they were still on the road. They sat on the rough benches that the servants of the Own dragged hither and yon. “Sir,” said Dom. “I was wondering about the pages. A certain cousin of mine is among them, and he happens to be friends with the lady page.”

“Is that so,” said Raoul, sensing that Dom had an ulterior motive. Being the Knight Commander of the King’s Own was supposed to free him from court and its intrigues, except when it was useful to him to know the goings on, and now young Dom was bringing it to him.

“I was wondering why you treated her the way you did – that is, no different than the rest of them. It wasn’t what I expected, after what Neal – my cousin – described Lord Cavall’s treatment of her.”

Raoul took a deep breath. “No reason to think that she would be any different than any of the other pages,” he said neutrally, but he knew after seeing her in action that it wasn’t true. He continued eating. Kel used her resources. She saw the strengths in people – and animals, for that matter – and she knew how to use them as resources and still see them as persons worthy of respect and care.   

“But you didn’t know that. You hadn’t seen her in action.”

“I had,” said Raoul mildly. “Remember the day last fall we watched the pages tilt? She stayed on that oversized gelding. I knew she could handle herself.”

Dom seemed to mull this over. After a moment, he said, “Just got a letter from my cousin, Neal. He says that Kel’s probation has been lifted, and she’s a proper page now.”

Raoul smiled widely, and didn’t mind that Dom could read these thoughts on his face. “Tell Qasim. I think he took a liking to her. I’m glad to hear of it.” And he was glad to hear of it. He saw a brilliant future in front of her – and maybe he’d make sure to be part of its nurturing. It had been a long time since he took a squire.


End file.
